Grass vs. Concrete set up; Cathy’s Critters requires a grass or dirt area to set up. If there is no space available, there is an additional fee of $40 - $60 (depending on your petting zoo size) for Cathy’s Critters to lay down straw and clean it all up when the event is through. However, if you choose to provide the straw yourself and clean it up when the event is over, then there is no additional fee from us. Cathy’s Critters does not lay a tarp down on concrete, but if we are located indoors or on any other floor type we will include 1 – 2 tarps to lay down below the straw. Please make Cathy’s Critters aware of a concrete set up before your event date so that we are sure to pack the necessary equipment. If you did not notify and pay the fee, Cathy’s Critters team might not have any straw available and will have to set up on grass or dirt.

Arrival time; Cathy's Critters arrives 30-45 minutes before your scheduled start time to set up the petting zoo. Our teams prefer not to have to back up to minimize any possibility of damage to your property or our trucks and trailers. Our drivers are well trained, but tight squeezes are always difficult. Please make a note of this when trying to decide where to put the truck / trailer. If we are needed to arrive any earlier than that (due to truck having to be moved to a different location or streets being shut down), there will be an additional pro-rated fee. Please cover this topic with Cathy's Critters when booking your event to discuss the details and fees.

Petting Zoo Sizes; our petting zoos are designed to fit a certain amount of people at one time. Our smaller packages can hold up to 20 people, our larger package can hold 45 – 50 and the largest that we offer can hold 60-65. Our team members are well aware of this fact and are knowledgeable enough to determine the amount of people to let into the petting zoo at one time. With that said, the petting zoos can get cramped – especially if we are at a festival and there is a huge line. We try to get everyone into the petting zoo at least once before the event is over, so it can get kind of tight. However, our employees are always on watch for the safety of our animals and reserve the right to remove any animal that they feel is getting handled too much and to not let a ton of people in at once. There have been some instances, however, where the event ends but there is still a long line for the petting zoo and/or pony rides. If this happens, we will send one of our employees to either close the petting zoo down and turn the guests away or stand at the end of the line to prevent any further guests from joining. This does tend to upset guests/ customers a little bit, but we are on a tight schedule and most of the time isn’t able to stay longer than the allotted event time. If this happens, we will give you feedback on your event to encourage a larger package, more ponies or a longer time frame.